Rwanda’s ‘digital president’ Paul Kagame on technology’s role in Africa’s future
Wired UK interview
Rwanda was consistently praised last week at the Transform Africa summit by presidents, academics, business leaders and others for its progress in implementing technology initiatives, building productive partnerships with the private sector and creating an environment where innovation can flourish.

Report: Africa still needs more ICT education and cheaper tech to grow a competitive knowledge economy
Wired UK
“Africa is no longer struggling with technology,” says Gilbert Mbesherubusa of the African Development Bank. But, he adds, we need to recognise that many people in Africa are still priced out of broadband adoption.

Today’s Complex Data Can Help Predict the Future’s War Zones
Wired
For much of the past decade, Afghanistan’s remote Faizabad district remained out of the Taliban’s reach. But the northeastern region has become a target for violence—and according to a new predictive model, Faizabad could get dicey by mid-2014.

Cleaner cookstoves can boost health and slow global warming
Guardian
World Bank report calls for action to cut common pollutants such as soot, which could save millions of lives every year.

Agriculture

Small-scale agriculture holds big promise for Africa
Guardian
Supporting smallholder irrigation through finance and technical assistance could significantly improve productivity and incomes

Economic development

Exports No Longer Sole Path to Economic Rescue
Yale Global
The countries that rely on exporting raw materials like oil and coal or low value-added products such as t-shirts or fertilizer may soon discover that value-adding activity, rather than cheap currency, is the economic requisite in the new era.

Financial inclusion

Bringing financial inclusion to the Horn of Africa
CNN Money
Zaad mobile wallet powers economic development and job creation in Somaliland.

Last mile distribution

Pyramid scheme
The Economist
To reach Africa’s poorest consumers, face-to-face contact works best.

Financing development

The Omidyar way of giving
Economist
The founder of eBay aims to be a more entrepreneurial philanthropist than his predecessors.

Stumbling into Philanthropy
Stanford Social Innovation Review
Turning a bunch of money into a lot of impact.

Telling our story

Forget feast or famine, it’s time to tell the complex story of development
Guardian
NGO communicators, like the wider PR industry, seem more interested in innovating content delivery rather than content itself

Youth

Make youth central to post-MDG future
CNN
Late last month, the world’s diplomats, CEOs, NGOs,  foundations, press and social media magnates gathered in New York City for the “Super Bowl” of global talks (official and unofficial) about the world’s future in the form of the U.N. General Assembly, Clinton Global Initiative, Social Good Summit, and other newer entrants like the Concordia Summit.